


Unexpected

by Wordancer



Category: The Accountant (2016)
Genre: Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 12:06:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15485400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordancer/pseuds/Wordancer
Summary: Matt doesn't understand how Braxton and Christian manage to get along.





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching the movie, and then the ending happened. It was adorable and hilarious, and I wanted more of the brothers working as a team. So here’s more.

They say Braxton Collins has an attitude, but Matt doesn’t give a shit about that because they also say Braxton Collins is an okay boss, which is what actually matters to anyone with half a brain. So when Matt gets the job offer to work for Collins’ private security company, he signs up without hesitation. His first day, a heavyset guy with a shaved head greets him at the door.

“I’m Jack, and you’re late.”

Matt checks his watch. “I’m five minutes early.”

“Five minutes early to the front door. Not five minutes early to your post. Plan better tomorrow.” With that warm reception, Jack introduces him to the team of seven, eight now, with Matt included.

They don’t get much further than that, because a stocky, muscular guy who closely resembles a pit bull stomps in through the front door. “Well, well, well, what have we here!” He’s loud and arrogant, and Matt can tell already that he’s a bit of an unrepentant asshole. “I’m Braxton, you’re Matt, let’s get this party started.” And with that, the team converges around a table in the center of the room, and the briefing for their latest security assignment begins.

All told, it’s not Matt’s worst first day. Not even in the top ten.

The second week on the job, a new guy shows up. Matt assumes he’s the client at first, because he’s got a suit and tie on, and his manner is diffident and mild despite his height and athletic build. He enters their house without fanfare, and none of the other guys get up to stop him, so Matt doesn’t either.

Braxton looks up from the table where he’s mapping out contingency plans and smiles widely. Matt does a double take. Braxton doesn’t smile like that, like he’s actually being friendly, at least in Matt’s limited experience of the man. “Hey, Christian.” Braxton’s voice is friendlier than usual, too.

“Hello, Braxton.” The new guy, Christian, then goes around the room and says hello to the entire team, who respond with hitherto unseen politeness. Christian stops in front of Matt with a slightly bewildered, blank look.

“That’s Matt Cooper, fresh meat. Matt, say hello,” Braxton says from where he’s looking over his plans.

“Hello.” Matt holds out a hand. “Matt Cooper, nice to meet you.”

“Christian Wolff. Same.” They shake hands, and Christian walks back over to stand next to Braxton.

Braxton sighs. “Yeah, I know, time for lunch. Just gimme a sec.” Christian nods, puts his hands in his pockets, and waits politely while Braxton barks out commands for the team to follow while he’s gone. 

The moment Braxton and Christian are out the door, Matt turns to Jack. “The fuck was that?”

“That,” Jack says with some emphasis, as if Matt is stepping out of line, “was Christian, our accountant.”

“Ha!” Terry, a weathered, bitter guy with a smart mouth grins a little meanly. “You’re leaving out some important information there, Jack.”

“Private information, which is nobody’s business but the boss’.”

“Important information that Matt’ll need to know if he wants to avoid pissing off said boss.” Eric, a laconic sharpshooter, raises his eyebrows meaningfully at Jack.

Jack sighs. “Christian is…important to Braxton. You’d do well to treat him with respect.”

“Yeah, and it makes no sense. I got no idea why he’s on the team, since he’s a total weirdo,” Terry says. Bo and Jim, the youngest of the group, guffaw and elbow each other.

“Shut up, all of you. Play with fire on your own time. None of us want to get caught near you if the boss hears you mouthing off,” Jack snaps. “Or do I need to remind you of why, exactly, we had to hire Matt in the first place?” That effectively shuts everyone up, and Matt makes a mental note to approach Christian with extreme caution. He wants to keep this job.

It’s pretty easy to avoid offending Christian, since he doesn’t say much besides hello or goodbye to anyone except Braxton when he shows up, which happens once or twice a week at lunchtime. The team seems to view him with benevolent neutrality, and Braxton always greets Christian with a genuine smile and an incongruously gentle tone of voice, which Matt never hears him use in any other situation.

Matt doesn’t really understand how the two work together. Braxton is brash and physical while Christian is quiet and cerebral. Braxton is rude to just about everyone except Christian, like he’s made a sacred oath to be a dick 24/7, and Christian is polite to a fault. Braxton routinely shows up wearing a hoodie and headphones, while Christian almost always wears a suit and tie. On the rare occasion Christian shows up only wearing a button down, Matt is stunned to discover he wears an actual, real life pocket protector.

Not exactly the type of guy Matt would have assumed Braxton would gravitate toward, and it’s eerie how well-behaved the team acts when Christian’s around. Christian seems not to notice or react to any of the strangeness, but the man is such a blank slate, it’s hard to tell for sure.

“So, are Braxton and Christian actually friends?” Matt asks after two months of observing the pair. “Because Braxton’s kinda disagreeable, and Christian’s kinda…” he trails off uncomfortably. “Straight-laced?”

“Fuck if I know,” Jack says. “Hand me that wrench.” They go back to setting up surveillance cameras in the backyard, and that’s the end of that until a year later, when the team runs into trouble on what would have been a routine mission, if their client hadn’t lied to them about basically everything.

They’re locked up in some kind of basement slash dungeon, and Braxton is shouting like a rabid dog at the guards posted outside their cell, as if that will help anything when they’ve all got their hands and feet tied and their weapons taken and stowed somewhere out of sight.

It’s a dark moment, and Matt begins to think about all his regrets in life, all the people he didn’t get to say goodbye to, when his morose thoughts get interrupted by the bang of a gun with a silencer sounding down the hall. Braxton goes quiet, and they all strain their ears to hear what sounds like a large firefight taking place a little ways away.

Two shots sound, and the guards outside their cell slump to the ground, bits of brain matter and blood splattered on the wall behind them. A tall guy dressed in black stealth gear rounds the corner, and Matt is shocked to recognize Christian.

“Christian, thank fuck!” Braxton doesn’t sound surprised at all. “What took you so long?”

“Hello, Braxton,” Christian says, quiet and calm like it’s any other day, and he’s there to collect Braxton for lunch.

“Holy shit,” Terry mutters from somewhere behind Matt.

Christian unlocks their cell and sets about freeing them from their bindings, greeting them with polite hellos and nods of his head. It’s pretty surreal, but it feels a lot better once Matt’s got his guns and knives back where they belong, and they’re sneaking out down the corridor and up the stairs.

Bodies line the halls, and they get out of the building and into a van in record time. Braxton’s already muttering about revenge, repeatedly pulling his arm out of the grasp of a determined Christian, who’s got a medical kit open in his lap and is trying to treat the gash on Braxton’s right forearm.

“Did you have to kill them all?” Braxton asks Christian a little mournfully. “Couldn’t you have left just one for me?”

“That would have posed an unacceptable risk to your safety,” Christian says, and it’s more than Matt’s heard him say in one go in all the time he’s known the man. “Hold still, please.”

“I’m fine,” Braxton growls. “But I’d be a lot better if I could’ve looked that asshole Lockley in the eyes while he died.”

“You didn’t miss much. It was over quickly.” Christian makes another attempt to get a hold of Braxton’s arm.

“Yeah, well. That’s a better end than that little shitstain deserved.” Braxton pulls his arm free again with a grunt.

Christian sighs and sits back, apparently abandoning the attempt to treat Braxton for the moment. He looks intently at Braxton, who is scowling back at the facility they just escaped. “Would you like to destroy the building complex?”

Braxton twists around to stare at Christian. “What?”

Christian holds up three detonators. “I rigged the grounds with explosives, in case I needed a diversion.” He offers the detonators to Braxton, who grabs them like a kid in a candy store, and points out which detonator is for which area of the grounds.

Braxton stares at Christian with intense gratitude. “Bro,” Braxton says with quiet glee, “You get me the best gifts.” He presses down on the first detonator, and the van rocks wildly from side to side as a huge firestorm erupts from the building where they were held.

“What the-” Jack grabs onto the baggage straps to keep from falling out of his seat, and the rest of the team also flinches and flails to remain seated. Once the explosion stops and the only noises are the hiss and crack of a conflagration, the team turns to Christian with awe and surprise. So they didn’t know he was capable of all this either, Matt thinks.

Braxton’s eyes flutter shut, and he smiles widely, as if he’s savoring a precious moment, and Christian chooses that moment to begin cleaning Braxton’s arm again. Braxton doesn’t shake him off this time. Instead, he holds up the second detonator and sets it off. Another explosion rocks the van, to the delight of Braxton and the muffled curses of the rest of the team. Christian seems unaffected, making short work of bandaging Braxton’s arm as Braxton activates the third detonator. Another explosion, and Matt can hear the creak and smash of trees falling to the ground. The van slows to a halt.

“What’s the hold up?” Braxton shouts at Bo, their driver for the night.

“Tree blocking the road,” Bo says, carefully omitting the fact that the tree fell because of Braxton setting off the explosions.

“Everybody out, get that tree moved,” Braxton barks while Christian calmly packs up the medical kit beside him, and the team gets to their feet in a chorus of tired groans.

Braxton gets out of the van after the team, with Christian following close behind, and they walk a little ways off to watch the buildings burn to the ground in the distance. Matt watches out of the corner of his eye while he saws at tree branches, understanding better how the two fit together now. Braxton turns to Christian and says, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Braxton,” Christian replies with the same implacably even tone.

“That was a lot of explosives.” Braxton nudges Christian with his elbow. “Worried about me, huh?”

Christian looks at the ground, shuffles his feet. It’s a pretty cute look for a guy who just killed scores of highly trained fighters. “Yes.”

“Come here, you.” Braxton grabs Christian by the arm and tugs him into a tight hug. After a few seconds he pulls away. “I’m fine.”

Christian nods, looks down at his feet. Then he takes another detonator out of his pocket. “I made one last one, for the forest. We’re out of the blast radius now.”

Braxton grins his toothiest, most savage grin. “You’re the best brother in the universe.”

“That would be difficult to prove,” Christian says.

Braxton scoffs, then detonates the bomb. Another tree falls a little further down the road, to widespread irritation from the team. Nobody complains too much, though. They want to burn the place to ash and dust, too.

Over the sound of the fire, Matt can hear Christian listing all the ways the purchase of these explosives has affected their budget, with Braxton humming along agreeably while he checks his ammo. Matt grins, and then laughs to himself at how surreal the entire night has been. Suddenly the two of them make complete sense.


End file.
